Amber's Storm
by SwimmerLife
Summary: There's two new rogues in Shadowclan, Amberpaw's so-called mother and sister. They've come to deliver a prophecy to Thunderstar. After that, they leave. But Amberpaw knows that prophecy is important, because there's a new rumor going around: It's time for Amber's Storm. Credit inside.


A/N: Credit for the plot bunny and the summary goes to windflight13! Reminder: This may or may not stay up, because it's only a trial to see wether I am worthy of the story or not.

Amberpaw:tan/light ginger tabby she-cat with grey eyes

Dewpaw: cream she-cat with white paws and hazel eyes

Crowpaw: dark grey tom with brown eyes

(More descriptions if I am able to post another chapter.)

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><p>" Dappletail, can you tell us a story?" Cinderkit mewed as she and Brackenkit stumbled into the Elder's den.<p>

"I don't see why not. Which one?" Dappletail purred.

"Tell us one we haven't heard before!" Brackenkit exclaimed. Dappletail purred and patted the moss of her nest, waiting for the kits to settle down.

"There is this one story I remember hearing when I was a kit, about a she-cat in Shadowclan. They told me that it happened many, many moons ago, when the Great Rock at Fourtrees was pointier and not so worn down by the paw steps of clan leaders. It started with one apprentice, a very young and small apprentice, who would one day become a very great warrior..."

It was morning. No cat could argue with that. One thing was strange though, becuase instead of the soft hues of blue and pink that came with sunrise, the sky was a swirl of deep red and coppery orange, twisting together until it looked like a pool of amber.

"That's funny," commented a small she-cat sitting alone in the dark pines along the Thunderpath, "the sky is reflecting the only one who cares to watch it." Her eyes flashed grey in the dawn light, standing out against her rusty brown tabby fur. The lone she-cat sat with her eyes closed, basking in the heat of the returning sun, until the morning silence was broken by a shrill screech in the direction of her clan's camp.

The she-cat got up with a sigh, then padded away from the edge of the greasy surface toward the trees. She dipped her head respectfully to the grey tom who bounded from the underbrush.

"Amberpaw! Why are you here? You have to stop sneaking out like this!" He meowed.

"I'm sorry Darktail, I only wanted to watch the sunrise." Amberpaw said.

Darktail sighed. "Just... Don't do it again, okay?" He then bounded back into the trees without glancing back. Amberpaw followed silently, running noisily behind the silent steps of her mentor.

As soon as they entered the camp Amberpaw was greeted by her father's distressed meow. "Amberpaw! I thought you got caught by another clan or something!"

"Pinefur, I'm fine, nothing happened." Amberpaw mewed.

Pinefur's protest was cut off by the strong voice of Thunderstar. "Amberpaw, nothing happened this time, but what about another time if you accidentally cross the border in the dark? We are only concerned for your safety!"

Amberpaw sighed. "I understand Thunderstar." Thunderstar nodded and padded away, signaling to Fernstep, the deputy, to follow. She smiled softly at Amberpaw before following their leader towards the fresh kill pile.

"Amberpaw, have some fresh-kill, you'll need it for training today." Darktail said, padding away towards the center of camp. Amberpaw followed, stopping to grab a magpie before stopping next to Crowpaw and Dewpaw.

Dewpaw flicked her tail in greeting, and Crowpaw shifted his weight to make room in their spot. Amberpaw set her magpie down in front of Crowpaw as she settled down next to her friends.

"Come on Crowpaw, you have to eat something, we have training today." Amberpaw meowed as Crowpaw pushed the magpie away.

"What about you?" He asked.

"I already ate."

"Seriously Crowpaw, you can't starve yourself like this, Darktail's taking us battle training today." Dewpaw scolded him.

"We have training every day." He grumbled, but he took a bite of the magpie anyway.

The three young cats sat for a few more minutes, arguing over who would be the first to perfect their newest battle move during training that day.

"You won't beat me!" Dewpaw taunted.

"Yes I will! I'm bigger than you!" Amberpaw said back, lashing her tail in the crisp leaf-fall air.

"So, I'm fa-"

Dewpaw's retort was cut off by Darktail and Honeystripe, Crowpaw's mentor. "Will you two quit arguing and get over here?" Honeystripe meowed.

The two she-cats raced over to join the group, skidding to a stop beside Crowpaw, who had already started padding towards the exit to camp. When the cats reached the training clearing, Dewpaw's mentor, Wolfpelt, showed them all a new attack move.

"You need to stay low to the ground, almost like in a hunting crouch. Then you jump forward and grab your partner's paws out from under them. Like this." He crouched in front of Honeystripe, who settled into a defensive stance. Wolfpelt leapt forward, avoiding Honeystripe's front swipe, before quickly jumping forward to knock her front paws out from under her.

"Toadpaw, why don't you and Amberpaw practice battling. Crowpaw and Dewpaw can pair together." Darktail said.

Amberpaw nodded and settled into a fighting stance across from the large tom. He pretty much hated her, which made training with him more difficult than it needed to be. He crouched in an attacking stance as he eyed her, as if he was estimating her movements.

"Remember, claws sheathed." Leafclaw reminded them before flicking her tail as a signal to begin.

Toadpaw was the first to move, leaping next to Amberpaw and swiping his paw towards her side. She just barely moved away in time, stumbling away from his blow. Her eyes narrowed, and she leapt up and over Taodpaw's back, landing a little wobbly on his shoulders.

Amberpaw was prepared for Toadpaw to try to roll her off, but he twisted so quickly that she was almost pressed beneath his back. She wiggled out from under him, scrambling to her feet, but she wasn't fast enough to avoid Toadpaw as he crashed into her side and pinned her. She twisted back and forth avoiding his fake bite that would mean that the fight was over, before using her back legs to throw him off of her.

Toadpaw landed a few tail-lengths away, scrambling up onto his paws with a groan. Amberpaw bunched the muscles in her legs as she crouched, before springing forward and knocking him off balance. She pinned him down on his stomach before looking up at Darktail and Leafclaw. Leafclaw nodded, so Amberpaw released Toadpaw with a slight nod.

Amberpaw didn't pay very much attention during the rest of training that day. It was mostly just reviewing simple moves that they all knew well by now, but their mentors wanted to do again just in case. When they all finally went back to camp, Amberpaw had a blackbird and a vole with her from their short hunting trip after battle training.

She dropped the prey at the fresh-kill pile, then went to lay down in her nest. She drifted off into a dreamless sleep soon after Crowpaw and Dewpaw joined her.

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><p>Someone was shaking her. They were whispering her name too, but she couldn't tell who it was. It must have been Darktail or Pinefur, because their voice was older than any of the apprentices' were. Amberpaw blinker her eyes open, groaning when she realized that it was still dark out. The moon was a sliver in the sky when she lifted her head and followed whoever it was that woke her out of the den.<p>

Amberpaw could see in the faint moonlight that it was Pinefur. She heard three voices from next to Thunderstar's den, Thunderstar, Fernstep, and a she-cat that Amberpaw had never seen before. Pinefur led her over to them, dipping his head to Thunderstar. Amberpaw copied his action.

"Amberpaw, there's something you neek to know. Something very important." Fernstep said softly. She gestured to the two she-cats with her tail. "This is Lily," she tilted her head towards the older she-cat, " and Cinder." Fernstep flicked her tail towards the younger she-cat.

"They're your... family." Thunderstar meowed.

"My family? I thought they died when I was born?" Amberpaw said. Thunderstar shook his head.

"Lily is your mother, and Cinder is your sister."

Amberpaw turned to the loners. "If that's true, if it even is true, why would you leave?" She asked.

Lily looked away and said, "It is something we had to do. We came back only to give Thunderstar a prophecy. I'm sorry." She looked to Thunderstar and dipped her head.

"Do you need to go?" Fernstep asked. Lily nodded and padded away, whispering another apology to Amberpaw as she passed.

Cinder dipped her head to Thunderstar and Fernstep as she followed Lily. She stopped for a second next to Amberpaw as she passed. "I hoped that when I finally met you we could maybe be friends." She meowed.

"You were here a little too briefly for that." Amberpaw sighed.

Cinder smiled, but returned to a solemn expression. "I wish you luck with your fate. Maybe we'll meet again someday." She whispered.

"Maybe" Amberpaw replied, "someday."


End file.
